Making the Most of Early Years Pupil Premium: introducing the ‘Balanced Approach’

Work in the early years has never been more important. Meeting the diverse needs of children has always required skill, energy, and dedication—and now, more settings and schools report rising numbers of children with developmental delays.

Early years education is one of the first opportunities to make a real difference to the life chances of socio-economically disadvantaged children. With the 45% uplift to the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP), we have an opportunity to rethink how we best support learning and improve outcomes.

Research tells us that early years education and care play a crucial role in narrowing the learning gap. The DfE-funded Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) (Melhuish and Gardiner, 2021) tracked nearly 6,000 children from early years to the end of Key Stage 1. The findings were clear:

• high-quality education and care benefits every child

• the benefits to disadvantaged children are greater.

Harnessing this research, our new guide recommends a balanced approach to EYPP spending:

The three parts of the balanced approach, summarised in the graphic above, remind us that it is educators’ practice that makes a real difference to children’s outcomes.

Quality education and care consist of:

• What educators do: use evidence-informed approaches to support children’s play, learning and development

• How they do it: tailor the approaches to be responsive to the strengths and needs of the individual child.

This isn’t about enhancing your universal offer to make sure all children experience ‘the same’ provision. Children develop at different rates, and some disadvantaged children might need extra support to thrive in the early years.

The practices in the ‘balanced approach’ are familiar, and consistent with a great strength in the early years: a team-approach to improving practice, where childminders, room leaders, teachers and managers work ‘on the ground’ alongside their teams.

This approach supports every educator in the team as they develop and use evidence-informed practices every day, responding flexibly to children’s individual needs. This is especially important when staff turnover is high, and leaders regularly need to induct new team members.

Imagine how the leader of a medium-sized early years setting might implement the ‘balanced approach’:

Some might argue that the best way to use additional funding is by purchasing a special box of toys or new resources tailored to children’s interests. Of course, resources can play a role - Suzanne, for example, invests in high-quality picture books to support interactive reading. But research consistently shows that it is educators’ practice - not just resources - that makes the biggest difference.

The EYPP uplift presents a valuable opportunity to narrow the learning gap in early years settings. By focusing on evidence-informed approaches and professional development, we can make sure every child gets a fair start.

Read our Early Years Pupil Premium guide to explore how to implement the balanced approach in your setting.